VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is set to speak about the importance of stopping the advancement of gang violence Wednesday afternoon. He will be joining the four-day 25th Annual Gang Conference, put on by the Virginia Gang Investigators Association at The Founders Inn. This comes about two years after Governor Youngkin's office launched Operation Ceasefire. The initiative funds gang prevention efforts in places throughout the Commonwealth, including five Hampton Roads cities. Hampton Operation Ceasefire: Beyond the Bullet Youth Summit The governor and Attorney General Jason Miyares boasted its success earlier in October, tying the initiative to a 30% drop in murder throughout the past year in Virginia. Youngkin and Miyares praise Operation Ceasefire after decrease in violent crime "We came together as a commonwealth. Not as a government, but as a commonwealth," Governor Youngkin said. "We said we were going to bring down violent crime and we were going to do everything in order to do it." This trend is in line with crime stats across the country. The FBI took a look at their numbers for the first three months of 2024. Compared to the same time in 2023, they noted a nationwide murder rate drop by about 26.4%. The decrease started right around when the COVID pandemic stabilized. FBI data show sharp drop in violent crime but steepness is questioned In Norfolk specifically, police chief Mark Talbot said all violent crime went down by about 28%. 10 On Your Side dove deep into this drop in crime stats back in January. At that time, we interviewed Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney Ramin Fatehi. He spoke about how the Norfolk Police Department maximized its efforts against violent crime despite an historic officer shortage. "Individuals obviously still have to work and have to work hard," Fatehi said at the time. "The Norfolk Police Department and Chief Talbot have done an excellent job. They have put officers where they need to be on the streets to deal with hot spots. They have put people in the detective bureau to investigate in the crimes that tend to result in the arrest of crime drivers." The full conference can be viewed below: